Annotated Summary

Williams,N. (2019, May 14 ). Plastic pollution crisis – New report highlights health impacts on world’s poorest. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/plastic-pollution-crisis-new-report-highlights-health-impacts-worlds-poorest

In the article, it states that around 12.7 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean, affecting marine biodiversity and communities which depend on it. Plastics were found ingested in more than 180 marine species. A separate joint-research report stated in this article mentioned that people in the developing world are dying as a result of improper management of waste including plastic. Roughly 3 billion people do not have accessibility to proper waste management. Hence, plastics disposed are often burned openly, causing air pollution. Furthermore, plastic dumpsites are often breeding hotspots for mosquitoes, which increases mosquito-borne diseases.

The article suggested that both the manufacturing and disposal of plastic contributes to pollution.  Hence, plastic should be reused and recycled as often as possible. The manufacturers of plastic should be made to take responsibility for plastic pollution, this will ensure that companies will do their part in reducing plastic usage. To combat plastic pollution, companies should study their products’ life cycles, identify items and taking necessary actions against item such as single-use plastic. Countries with financial capabilities should process and recycle their plastic waste, rather than exporting it to low-income countries which are not able to fully manage plastic waste. This would also boost their recycling industries as well.

This article allows the team to understand the impact of plastics on the environment and identify the use of single-use plastic as the most problematic issue with the highest pollution. The research provided insights into the importance of plastic reduction because it illustrates how plastic usage affects marine life and people. Therefore, aiding the team to narrow its project research to the reduction of single-use plastic with the use of the dispenser system in beverage stalls in Singapore Institute of Technology.